Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg)Looking to lose that spare tire? Ideal weight 200+? Frustrated being a large cyclist in a sport geared for the ultra-light? Learn about the bikes and parts that can take the abuse of a heavier cyclist, how to keep your body going while losing the weight, and get support from others who've been successful.

15 years ago my doc told me to eat vegan to lower my cholesterol. that worked, but I didn't lose any weight...probably because I wasn't exercising at the time.

when I started bike-commuting to work a couple of years ago, for whatever reason i decided to go veggie and lost 40# over a 6-month period. eventually I missed meat and resumed flesh consumption and plateaued on weight loss. never connected the two, and maybe it's just a coincidence.

I'm plenty fast on the flats but still slow on the hills, so I recently tried dropping #s - first with a protein shake diet and then low-carb. I found that neither of these was sustainable when doing 2 hours of exercise per day (1 hour commuting each way). I got crazy hungry and ended up not being able to stick to the plan (esp. the low-carb one).

this weekend I read the "Engine 2 diet" which is basically a healthy-vegan (i.e., brown rice not white rice) approach and which has been adopted by LA and others. got me thinking that I should give it a try again.

curious to hear whether anyone on this board has had good experiences with veggie/vegan diets coupled with a lot of cycling (10+ hours per week). seems like a good way to get lots of (complex) carbs. btw I certainly understand that one needs to eat legumes for protein and also use supplements for iron, etc. more curious what your weight-loss experiences have been.

I went Vegan about 15 years ago. Currently riding about 150 miles a week and running about 24 miles a week. Am 5'10", 180 lbs, 47 years old ( but constantly get amazed replies that I look ten years younger ).

Weight loss, in my opinion, is less about a particular diet and more about simply calories in vs out. With a Vegan diet you will stay about the same weight if the calories in vs out are roughly equal, you will gain if the "in" is higher and you will lose if the "out" is higher. What you will find with a healthy ( brown rice, grains, legumes, fresh fruit and vegetables ) Vegan diet is that you will feel better, recover better and look better while simultaneously causing no pain and suffering to other animals ( win/win ).

I have to admit, what you are doing fascinates me. It's my goal to get to what you listed as your exercise regime. I have the running up to that point, I have no idea how I could maintain that amount of running and add 150 miles of biking.

There is no such thing as a meat free diet. I had a friend from India that always kidded his non animal eating friends by saying that they were eating microscopic animals with every bite of vegetables. He would even try to get them to look through a microscope at what they were eating.

Imagine eating all those animals alive. Embrace the fact that we are predators and have canine teeth.

My thinking is that a vegetarian diet is a good diet. But like others have mentioned you will need to make sure that you get the minerals and protein that you need. Also I don't think that you will lose weight by eating french fries and watching tv. Most people have to keep the calories down and exercise with some hunger involved.

Funny, i've lost 40 pounds by adding more chicken and dairy products and cutting crap food and beverages. Personally, I agree with the calories in/out theory. Eat whatever you want. If it's crappy high calorie food, you will have to work pretty hard to burn it off. Also, if your vegan intentions are due to not wanting to harm animals, more power to you. I can respect that. If it's because you think it's healthier? Well, my diet doesn't require taking supplements to compensate for the foods I can't eat.

Check out the movie Forks Over Knives (you can stream it on Netflix). I have a friend that works for Engine 2. She reversed her diabetes, lost over 200 lbs and she is no longer on any medications and her cholesterol is under 150. I am working toward going Vegan....she was kind enough to send me two books with easy recipes from the Happy Herbivore.

Last edited by Beachgrad05; 04-23-12 at 01:10 PM.
Reason: needed to add something

FYI: A proper Vegan diet does not require the need for supplements. Plus you get plenty of protein and other nutrients but that is only if you are eating healthy vegan foods and eating a variety of foods. There are so many misconceptions related to eating a vegan diet. I suggest watching "Forks Over Knives", it is a real eye opener....

My Vegan diet has never had to be supplemented.Vegan's and Vegetarian's live on average 14 years longer than others with, most importantly, a higher quality of life.The meat, dairy, egg, nutritional supplement and dietary product industries have been massively misinforming their customer base, for obvious reasons, concerning the claimed positive attributes of their products.

Funny, i've lost 40 pounds by adding more chicken and dairy products and cutting crap food and beverages. Personally, I agree with the calories in/out theory. Eat whatever you want. If it's crappy high calorie food, you will have to work pretty hard to burn it off. Also, if your vegan intentions are due to not wanting to harm animals, more power to you. I can respect that. If it's because you think it's healthier? Well, my diet doesn't require taking supplements to compensate for the foods I can't eat.

+1. I went zero carb (all meat diet) and my cholesterol dropped from 210 to 169.

My Vegan diet has never had to be supplemented.Vegan's and Vegetarian's live on average 14 years longer than others with, most importantly, a higher quality of life.The meat, dairy, egg, nutritional supplement and dietary product industries have been massively misinforming their customer base, for obvious reasons, concerning the claimed positive attributes of their products.

Some studies report that 50% of all studies are inaccurate. Further studies are pending.

We could go back and forth and skew towards our own viewpoints and preferences all day on an issue like this. What constitutes a better quality of life? Steve Jobs had a great life and he died of cancer. Some people would argue that Ted Nugent has had a great life too and he appears healthy (well, physically at least!). I do agree that the U.S. food industry makes good business by lying to us, but I really doubt that excludes vegan food.

I'd highly recommend trying it. I went vegetarian a few years ago, and greatly enjoyed the benefits while carrying a training load similar to yours. I've since gotten more in tune with my body and it's needs and wants and will vary the amount of meat I eat. I tend to eat some in the winter, but go more vegetarian in the summer.

When traveling for work I tend to get pretty strict- eating vegetarian is usually eliminates a lot of unhealthy choices at restaurants.

One caveat though- vegetarians are right up there with lo-carbers and gluten-frees when it comes to weird processed crap that's designed to meat their dietary requirements. Avoid this crap. Just give up the cheeseburger, soy or otherwise.

I tried a vegan experiment a couple of years ago. My husband had just been diagnosed with diabetes at the time. I had planned to spend only one month eating strictly vegan-- just to see how it goes. We didn't ultimately stay totally vegan after that month but it permanently changed a lot about the way we eat. Much more fruits and vegetables, whole grains and legumes, much less meat. We learned to like tofu. All that aside... My husband lost a lot of weight, close to 80 pounds. His diabetes seems to be in remission and all the problems he had before with high cholesterol and triglycerides are gone. He has also stopped taking blood pressure meds. BUT, there was no such effect for me. I am still overweight and beginning to have problems with cholesterol and blood sugar. Perhaps I am not as strict.

Sorry.... but I'm with Denis Leary on the meat thing. Animals are nice and all, and I wouldn't want to cause them unnecessary pain, but until someone proves to me that they miss their friends, I'm eating them... They taste so good!

And just to qualify, as much as I wouldn't ever want these to happen... If I was caught in the jungle by a Lion, or was in a plane crash in the mountains... Have at it! I'll be good for a few days of eating!!!

Sorry.... but I'm with Denis Leary on the meat thing. Animals are nice and all, and I wouldn't want to cause them unnecessary pain, but until someone proves to me that they miss their friends, I'm eating them... They taste so good!

And just to qualify, as much as I wouldn't ever want these to happen... If I was caught in the jungle by a Lion, or was in a plane crash in the mountains... Have at it! I'll be good for a few days of eating!!!

Leary is an idiot. Find a better person to model yourself after. If I can provide the nourishment my body needs while at the same time causing no pain and suffering to another animal why would I not want to? Have your morals control your actions not your tastebuds.

Ah, and almost to illustrate the point perfectly- we just had two people on both extremes of the morality issue.

Which is rather unfortunate, because I think the vast majority of people would probably agree that it's possible to consume meat that has been raised and killed in a humane and compassionate manner without any serious moral implications.

But unfortunately, the discussion gets bogged down in the extremes- people who say that the killing of any animal for consumption is just not OK no matter what and those who say it has no relevance whatsoever and don't care how an animal arrives at their table.

As such, it's very difficult to make an informed choice about where to land in the middle and you get your arm twisted into just not eating meat because you have no idea what the bag of frozen chicken breasts really contains.

Which isn't too bad, because while the moral debate is difficult, the health aspect is not. There's a ton of really bad studies out there and best selling books masquerading as science, but I think you'd have a difficult time proving that eliminating meat is more unhealthy than even a little bit of meat or that eating more meat is healthier.

I'm neither vegetarian nor vegan but I almost never eat meat these days. Some fish, some dairy.

Why not meat? Not because I think it immoral to kill animals. Principally because the evidence seems to be stacking up that eating a lot of meat isn't much good for us, and partly because intensive livestock farming is both a massive polluter and an extremely inefficient way of producing the food we need. And I find that I feel better when the vast majority of my diet consists of fruit, legumes, grains, veggies.

From what I have read, I think the idea that we need animal proteins to be healthy is almost certainly a myth. In fact, most of us probably eat far more protein than we need, anyway. And vegetarians do seem to enjoy longer life expectancy, lower rates of heart disease, bowel cancer etc.

that worked, but I didn't lose any weight...probably because I wasn't exercising at the time.

Vegans tend to replace healthy animal fats and proteins with unnatural, refined fats (corn, rapeseed, etc) and sugars. The interesting thing about a vegan diet is that if you skip refined foods, getting 2000kcal into yourself is... difficult. Force yourself to eat locally and it because EXTREMELY difficult for anyone living north of southern California. Vegetables have an extremely low calorie density. To eat 2000kcal of broccoli you need to consume ~13 lbs of it.

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evidence seems to be stacking up that eating a lot of meat isn't much good for us

Not really, most of the studies that say meat is bad for people are very poorly conducted.

Honestly, right now, it's pretty much impossible to do decent clinical studies about what people eat and how it affects them. People lie about what they eat, they can't keep to a strict clinical diet (which is what would be required). Medical thinking from the 90s has completely distorted population behavior to the point of making statistical analysis all but useless. Yes, people who eat lots of meat may be statistically less healthy... but is that because meat is unhealthy, or is it because people who are proactive (physically active, interested in the quality of their food, etc) have been told to not eat meat, while people who eat meat tend to disregard other aspects of their health?

Leary is an idiot. Find a better person to model yourself after. If I can provide the nourishment my body needs while at the same time causing no pain and suffering to another animal why would I not want to? Have your morals control your actions not your tastebuds.

Ah, and almost to illustrate the point perfectly- we just had two people on both extremes of the morality issue.

It's a sad day when eliminating pain and suffering to other animals is considered a moral extreme.

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Which is rather unfortunate, because I think the vast majority of people would probably agree that it's possible to consume meat that has been raised and killed in a humane and compassionate manner without any serious moral implications.

The same vast majority of people couldn't explain the ridiculous sentence that contains both words "killed" and "humane" or "compassionate".

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But unfortunately, the discussion gets bogged down in the extremes- people who say that the killing of any animal for consumption is just not OK no matter what and those who say it has no relevance whatsoever and don't care how an animal arrives at their table.

Once again, how can the killing of an animal be considered extreme?

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Which isn't too bad, because while the moral debate is difficult, the health aspect is not.

Nothing difficult about the moral debate at all. It's compassion and empathy versus selfishness and tastebuds.

Apparently Peacevegan you've never heard an asparagus scream when it was pulled out of the ground. Why would you or anyone have any less or more of a moral objection to killing a tree or plant than a cow or chicken? The reality of it is that we all have to "kill" something to survive be it plant or animal. Because you draw your line in one place and someone else in another doesn't give you any higher moral ground.

Apparently Peacevegan you've never heard an asparagus scream when it was pulled out of the ground. Why would you or anyone have any less or more of a moral objection to killing a tree or plant than a cow or chicken? The reality of it is that we all have to "kill" something to survive be it plant or animal. Because you draw your line in one place and someone else in another doesn't give you any higher moral ground.

Asparagus screaming is gonna need a little more research. However, we do know that animals feel pain. I think we may be able to agree that there currently is a world of difference between picking a fruit or vegetable and the horrific things we do to animals purely to satisfy our tastebuds.

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At 170lbs why are you even in the clyde forum?

If I am not welcome I will go. The OP asked a question and I had some info and shared. If the inclusion of info and opinion by a non-clyde has caused you to to feel violated I apologize.

It's a sad day when eliminating pain and suffering to other animals is considered a moral extreme.

The same vast majority of people couldn't explain the ridiculous sentence that contains both words "killed" and "humane" or "compassionate".

Once again, how can the killing of an animal be considered extreme?

Nothing difficult about the moral debate at all. It's compassion and empathy versus selfishness and tastebuds.

Is it immoral for a lion to stalk, chase, and eat a zebra? For a cat to eat a mouse? A bird to eat a worm? You may find it immoral for me to eat a healthy diet based on meat, but I do not. I sleep just fine at night knowing that animals had to die so that I could live.